Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general to file a motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to preserve anti-discrimination protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In the motion, Raoul and the coalition are asking to vacate a discriminatory federal rule undermining Section 1557 of the ACA. This first-of-its-kind provision in the ACA precludes discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability and age in federal health care programs. The rule issued by the federal government illegally rolls back these critical protections. Section 1557 of the ACA is the first federal civil rights law to expressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability and age in federal health programs. In the motion, the coalition argues that the rule should be vacated in its entirety because:

• States will bear new administrative, regulatory, investigative, enforcement and health care burdens and costs because of it.

• The removal of the definition of “on the basis of sex” and weakened protections for language assistance services is arbitrary and capricious.

• The rule’s addition of broad religious exemptions for abortion are arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, and exceed statutory authority.